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GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has expressed worries with the high rate of child and maternal mortality in the country, saying that nursing mothers and pregnant women should actively participate in efforts to reduce it.

Flagging off the first round of maternal newborn child health week, yesterday, at the Primary Health Centre, Ozuoba, Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state, Governor Wike pleaded with pregnant women and nursing mothers to visit health centres near them for immunisation.

Traditional and alternative medicine practitioners have canvassed its integration into the nation’s primary healthcare delivery system.

They spoke under the aegis of Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine and the Centre for Research in Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine of Nigerian Institute of Medical Research(NIMR) during the African Traditional Day celebration in Lagos.

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has called on all pregnant women, nursing mothers and women of child-bearing age to take advantage of the ongoing 1st Round Maternal, New Born and Child Health Week to access medicare.

The governor made this call at the flag off of the Maternal and Child Health Week at the Primary Health Centre, Ozuoba in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

As part of efforts to eliminate Maternal Neonatal Tetanus(MNT) in the state, Oyo State Government says it will conduct three-round of Maternal Neonatal Tetanus Elimination(MNTE) campaign in seven affected Local Government Areas.

The State Health Educator, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Mrs Oluwakemi Olawoyin made the disclosure in Ibadan at a sensitization programme aimed at eliminating MNT from Oyo state.

In recent times, the healthcare delivery system in the State of Osun has been in the limelight, particularly on issues bothering on welfare of medical doctors; salaries and allowance, as well as ‘agitations’ by the medical workers for the provision of medical equipments and other consumables. The agitations, particularly, by medical doctors has recently resulted into industrial action.

Only 2.1 per cent of married women in Bauchi State are using a modern method of contraceptive, which is lower than the national rate of 10 per cent.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Country Director of Health Policy Plus, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr. Onoriode Ezire, who noted that because of the low practice of contraceptive in the state, the population of Bauchi is likely to reach 26 million by 2050 as against the present population of about five million.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian government agency , says it is contributing 2.6m Canadian dollars ($1.9m) to the funding of a maternal and child health programme in Nigeria and in five other West African countries – Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Benin and Burkina Faso.

Nigeria currently has a high incidence of maternal mortality. According to the United Nations ‎Population Fund, Nigeria is responsible for 10 percent of the global maternal mortality burden. That is, about 111 women die during child birth in the country.

Maternal mortality has been determined unequally at different times and different regions. However, a consensus has now been reached. In practice, the definition adopted by the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is now almost universally applied. Read more about the causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria!

A meeting of health ministers from ECOWAS member countries has kicked off in Abuja.

The meeting, which is held annually, is organised by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO).

Speaking with journalists at the ECOWAS secretariat on Tuesday, Kofi Busai, director of primary health at WAHO, said this year’s meeting is looking at ways to reducing maternal mortality in the region.

The United Nation Children’s Fund [UNICEF], on Thursday solicited the support of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II in addressing issues related to child protection, survival and development in Nigeria.

Mr Mohamed Malick-Fall, the newly appointed UNICEF Country Representative, made the appeal when he paid a courtesy visit on the Emir at his Palace in Kano.